Top 10 Rose Bowl Games

1. 2006: Texas 41, USC 38 - Hailed as one of the greatest games in college football history as Vince Young and Texas denied USC its third straight national title. Texas got the ball back after the defense stopped the Trojans on a 4th-and-2 with 2:09 left. Young, who had 467 total yards and three scores, went on to score the game-winner with 19 seconds left on a 4th-and-5. It was the Longhorns first national championship since 1970.

2. 1963: USC 42, Wisconsin 38 – The first time the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the country played in a bowl game, it didn’t disappoint. Wisconsin scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t quite complete the comeback in a game that set 11 Rose Bowl records.

3. 1929: Georgia Tech 8, California 7 - The infamous Wrong-Way game, as Cal’s Roy Riegels recovered a fumble and returned it 65 yards in the wrong direction only to be stopped by a teammate at the 1-yard line. Tech blocked a punt a few plays later to take the lead on a safety.

4. 1926: Alabama 20, Washington 19 - Alabama scored three touchdowns in less than seven minutes in the second half to stun Washington and the college football world in one of the biggest upsets in Rose Bowl history. The win claimed the Tide’s first national title. It was also the first time a southern team played in Pasadena.

5. 1980: USC 17, Ohio State 16 – Heisman trophy winning USC running back Charles White rushed for a Rose Bowl record 247 yards and the game-winning touchdown with a little over a minute remaining. USC finished the season ranked No. 2 behind Alabama because of a tie with Stanford earlier in the season in a game it led 21-0.

6. 1941: Stanford 21, Nebraska 13 – Featuring one of the most famous plays in Rose Bowl history, after Nebraska held Stanford out of the end zone on four consecutive plays from the 1-yard line, the Cornhuskers elected to punt out of the end zone on first down only for Stanford to return the punt for a touchdown to seal the win.

7. 2005: Texas 38, Michigan 37 - The game that introduced Vince Young to the college football world, as the Texas quarterback racked up 372 yards and five scores to rally the Longhorns from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Dusty Mangum kicked the game winner as time expired to claim the Longhorns’ first Rose Bowl win.

8. 1942: Oregon State 20, Duke 16 – This game was moved to Duke’s campus due to fears of a Japanese attack on the West Coast following the events at Pearl Harbor 25 days earlier. It took Oregon State nearly two weeks to make the trip by train, but the heavy underdogs prevailed.

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9. 1902: Michigan 49, Stanford 0

The inaugural Rose Bowl was so lopsided that the Stanford captain was granted his request to end the game with eight minutes remaining. National champion Michigan finished 11-0 and earned the nickname, the “point-a-minute” team due to the 501 they scored that season.

10. 1966: UCLA 14, Michigan St. 12 - UCLA shocked the No. 1 and heavily favored Spartans with two second-quarter touchdowns runs from sophomore quarterback Gary Beban, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 1967. Michigan St. nearly rallied with two fourth quarter scores, but both two-point conversions failed, including the dramatic final one where defensive back Bob Stiles stopped Bob Apisa one foot from the end zone, going unconscious in the process.